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ESF 10:Education as Self-Fashioning: Unintended Consequences

Unintended consequences are outcomes that are not the ones foreseen and/or intended by a new product, action or decision. Some unintended outcomes are very surprising, and would have been hard to predict. Others seem completely logical in hindsight and leaves people wondering why they were not anticipated. For instance, when the first biofuel mandates were imposed in the EU, little did policy makers realize it would lead to a strong rise in palm oil production, which in turn led to tropical deforestation, undoing any of the possible positive impacts of increased biofuels use. In hindsight it is easy to see this potential negative impact, yet at the time the decision was made the EU leadership was blind to it. Not all unintended consequences are negative. Aspirin, for example, was developed to relieve pain, but was found to also be an anticoagulant that can lower the risk of heart attacks. As another example, the setting up of large hunting reserves for nobility in the medieval period preserved green areas, which later could be converted to large parks.

ESF 10A:Education as Self-Fashioning: Unintended Consequences

Unintended consequences are outcomes that are not the ones foreseen and/or intended by a new product, action or decision. Some unintended outcomes are very surprising, and would have been hard to predict. Others seem completely logical in hindsight and leaves people wondering why they were not anticipated. For instance, when the first biofuel mandates were imposed in the EU, little did policy makers realize it would lead to a strong rise in palm oil production, which in turn led to tropical deforestation, undoing any of the possible positive impacts of increased biofuels use. In hindsight it is easy to see this potential negative impact, yet at the time the decision was made the EU leadership was blind to it. Not all unintended consequences are negative. Aspirin, for example, was developed to relieve pain, but was found to also be an anticoagulant that can lower the risk of heart attacks. As another example, the setting up of large hunting reserves for nobility in the medieval period preserved green areas, which later could be converted to large parks.

ESF 11:Education as Self-Fashioning: The Democratic Citizen

A democracy seeks to aggregate the diverse and conflicting views of individuals into collective policy. How does this work, in theory and in practice? How have individuals thought about this process and their own roles within it, and how has that reflection shaped their lives as democratic citizens? In this course, we will study the history of democracy and democratic thought, from Ancient Greece and Rome to the modern world. We will consider how thinkers ancient and modern sought to fashion themselves into democratic citizens, and we will compare these ideals to the realities of democratic government in practice. Through a variety of philosophical and empirical readings, we will explore the fundamental challenges of democracy and discuss how we see them playing out today.

ESF 11A:Education as Self-Fashioning: The Democratic Citizen

A democracy seeks to aggregate the diverse and conflicting views of individuals into collective policy. How does this work, in theory and in practice? How have individuals thought about this process and their own roles within it, and how has that reflection shaped their lives as democratic citizens? In this course, we will study the history of democracy and democratic thought, from Ancient Greece and Rome to the modern world. We will consider how thinkers ancient and modern sought to fashion themselves into democratic citizens, and we will compare these ideals to the realities of democratic government in practice. Through a variety of philosophical and empirical readings, we will explore the fundamental challenges of democracy and discuss how we see them playing out today.

ESF 13:Education as Self-Fashioning: The Discovery of The Mind

The struggle to know began long before you entered the university. The university as an institution has its origins in the late Middle Ages; it has been reinvented repeatedly as our ideas about education have changed. People have been rebelling against how institutions define learning (and for whom) ever since. This course introduces you to some of the most thoughtful and interesting reflections on the nature and purpose of an education, on knowledge and ignorance, at the birth of the modern world. Understanding the quest to discover the mind and to embrace learning as a lifelong endeavor is a starting point to reflect on the goals of your own education, as an engaged intellectual citizen of the world.nFriday lectures will be held 9:30am-10:50am in Bishop Auditorium.

ESF 13A:Education as Self-Fashioning: The Discovery of the Mind

The struggle to know began long before you entered the university. The university as an institution has its origins in the late Middle Ages; it has been reinvented repeatedly as our ideas about education have changed. People have been rebelling against how institutions define learning (and for whom) ever since. This course introduces you to some of the most thoughtful and interesting reflections on the nature and purpose of an education, on knowledge and ignorance, at the birth of the modern world. Understanding the quest to discover the mind and to embrace learning as a lifelong endeavor is a starting point to reflect on the goals of your own education, as an engaged intellectual citizen of the world.

ESS 86N:The Most Rational People in the World

Humans, broadly construed, emerged as bipedal apes in the African mixed savanna-woodlands approximately two million years ago. From humble beginnings, humans have gone on to be become the ecologically dominant species in most biomes and grown to a global population in excess of seven billion. This dominance arises from a combination of features of the human organism including its extreme degree of behavioral flexibility and flexible social organization. The prima facie evidence of human evolutionary and ecological success raises a paradox with respect to recent work in economics and psychology which increasingly argues for pervasive irrationality in human decision-making in a wide array of behavioral contexts. How is it possible for an organism with such seemingly flawed software supporting decision-making to become the globally dominant species? We will use this contradiction as the launching point for understanding what rationality means in a broad ecological and cross-cultural conte
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Humans, broadly construed, emerged as bipedal apes in the African mixed savanna-woodlands approximately two million years ago. From humble beginnings, humans have gone on to be become the ecologically dominant species in most biomes and grown to a global population in excess of seven billion. This dominance arises from a combination of features of the human organism including its extreme degree of behavioral flexibility and flexible social organization. The prima facie evidence of human evolutionary and ecological success raises a paradox with respect to recent work in economics and psychology which increasingly argues for pervasive irrationality in human decision-making in a wide array of behavioral contexts. How is it possible for an organism with such seemingly flawed software supporting decision-making to become the globally dominant species? We will use this contradiction as the launching point for understanding what rationality means in a broad ecological and cross-cultural context. What do we mean by `rationality¿? How do different disciplines conceive of rationality in different ways? Is there such a thing as a rationality that transcends cultural differences or is the very idea of rationality a cultural construction that is used to justify imperialism and other modes of paternalism? Are there systematic factors that promote or impede rational decision-making? The seminar will provide a gentle introduction to the formal approaches of decision theory which we will apply to an unusual array of topics centered on the subsistence and reproductive decisions of hunter-gatherers, horticulturalists, pastoralists, and agrarian peasants, in short, people living in face-to-face, subsistence societies. In addition to doing reading from a broad array of social and natural science disciplines around the topic of rationality, students will regularly engage in exercises to assess their own approaches to decision-making.

The economics of food production, consumption, and trade. The micro- and macro- determinants of food supply and demand, including the interrelationship among food, income, population, and public-sector decision making. Emphasis on the role of agriculture in poverty alleviation, economic development, and environmental outcomes. Grades based on mid-term exam and group modeling project and presentation. Enrollment is by application only and will be capped at 25, with priority given to upper level undergraduates in Economics and Earth Systems and graduate students (graduate students enroll in 206). Application found at
https://economics.stanford.edu/academics/undergraduate-program/forms

The complex urban problems affecting quality of life in the Bay Area, from housing affordability and transportation congestion to economic vitality and social justice, are already perceived by many to be intractable, and will likely be exacerbated by climate change and other emerging environmental and technological forces. Changing urban systems to improve the equity, resilience and sustainability of communities will require new collaborative methods of assessment, goal setting, and problem solving across governments, markets, and communities. It will also require academic institutions to develop new models of co-production of knowledge across research, education, and practice. This XYZ course series is designed to immerse students in co-production for social change. The course sequence covers scientific research and ethical reasoning, skillsets in data-driven and qualitative analysis, and practical experience working with local partners on urban challenges that can empower students to
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The complex urban problems affecting quality of life in the Bay Area, from housing affordability and transportation congestion to economic vitality and social justice, are already perceived by many to be intractable, and will likely be exacerbated by climate change and other emerging environmental and technological forces. Changing urban systems to improve the equity, resilience and sustainability of communities will require new collaborative methods of assessment, goal setting, and problem solving across governments, markets, and communities. It will also require academic institutions to develop new models of co-production of knowledge across research, education, and practice. This XYZ course series is designed to immerse students in co-production for social change. The course sequence covers scientific research and ethical reasoning, skillsets in data-driven and qualitative analysis, and practical experience working with local partners on urban challenges that can empower students to drive responsible systems change in their future careers. The Autumn (X) course is specifically focused on concepts and skills, and completion is a prerequisite for participation in the Winter (Y) and/or Spring (Z) practicum quarters, which engage teams in real-world projects with Bay Area local governments or community groups. X is composed of four modules: (A) participation in two weekly classes which prominently feature experts in research and practice related to urban systems; (B) reading and writing assignments designed to deepen thinking on class topics; (C) fundamental data analysis skills, particularly focused on Excel and ArcGIS, taught in lab sessions through basic exercises; (D) advanced data analysis skills, particularly focused on geocomputation in R, taught through longer and more intensive assignments. X can be taken for 3 units (ABC), 4 units (ACD), or 5 units (ABCD). Open to undergraduate and graduate students in any major. For more information, visit
http://bay.stanford.edu.